At my last physical therapy session (December 7) in Oakland, my therapist recommended the Kaiser Pain Management program. She sent her recommendation to Dr. Chan and I requested Dr. Chan, as well, for a referral to Pain Management. Instead, she referred me to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
So I saw Dr. Sumetanon in Union City on December 14. He prescribed Flexeril, ordered an MRI, and required three visits to group acupuncture before anything else. He recommended that I attend some of Kaiser’s “lifestyle” classes. I told him I was most interested in Pain Management, and he told me that my PCP (Dr. Chan) would have to give the referral to the Kaiser Pain Management program. It was only then that Dr. Chan agreed to give me a referral to Pain Management.
Three days later, I got a call from Pain Management in Union City. It felt like winning the lottery! As I had just been hearing from someone in one of my Facebook pain groups who had had to wait over three years to get into a pain management program. Someone else said that a two-year wait was very typical for those who get “free” health care in Canada.
Pain Management Overview Group
January 16, 2018
This was a three-hour—just what it was called—overview of what the Kaiser Pain Management program was like. They made it abundantly clear that, in most cases, this would not make the pain go away but would give the patient “skills” to cope with chronic pain. The main presenters were Francis, a physical therapist, and Dr. Whitehead, Pain Psychologist. They gave us just short “samples” of relaxation strategies: meditation, “calm breathing” techniques, and “gentle” movement.
There was a lot of paperwork to fill out and more detailed description of the programs offered. There were two once-a-week classes. Level 1 was called “Calm Body, Calm Mind” and was a drop-in group on Tuesdays at 3-5p. Level two was also once a week on Wednesdays at 3-5p with group acupuncture optional but encouraged. I knew I had to go straight for Level 3 called “Advanced Skills for Getting Your Life Back.”
Francis said the next Level 3 group would start on Friday, January 19, and that someone would evaluate our extensive paperwork and let us know within the next week if we would be a good candidate for that class. I asked Frances how that could work since the next group would be starting in three days! He said to make a note at the top of my application that I wanted/needed to get into this class. So I did and kept my fingers crossed.
